Craig Taylor, an Air Force veteran, beats the bushes to find money for homeless veterans. There are 37,000 such vets nationally, at least 2,000 in Texas, a condition Taylor said is “a tragedy and a disgrace.”
Taylor serves as president and CEO of Solutions for Veterans, a national organization championing the cause of vets living without a roof over their head. Among his causes is converting three vacant buildings at the Doris Miller Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Waco into apartments for 34 homeless veterans. The original $7 million cost estimate has evaporated into an inflation-induced fog, emerging closer to $10 million, Taylor said.
Undeterred, Taylor said by phone he has adopted a “layer cake approach” to raising money, securing a piece here and a slice there. Late last week, the Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas announced it would subsidize Solutions for Veterans’ project in Waco to the tune of $510,000.
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Taylor said the Home Depot Foundation is leaning toward awarding a $400,000 grant, and Raymond James Financial will buy $4 million in federal housing tax credits and $3 million in historic tax credits. He said the city of Waco may allocate $500,000 in American Rescue Plan funds. He plans another run at the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs.
Ideally, financing will be secured, the deal will close and construction will start by April for completion a year later, Taylor said.
The three buildings in question date to the 1930s, and housed VA employees living onsite until the 1980s. A condition report shows the buildings are in poor-to-fair condition, with water infiltration from roof damage and basement walls. Taylor said tearing the buildings down and starting over is out of the question, as they are protected by longstanding historic designations. He said maintenance and grounds upkeep drains federal resources that would be better spent on serving veterans’ needs.
He said veterans living in the 34 units will come from the homeless population. They would have little if any income, and would qualify for housing vouchers available through the Waco Housing Authority. He said those living in Freedom’s Path, the name given the four-acre development, will have access to medical care and social interaction with other veterans.
He said Solutions for Veterans will work with the VA and the Veterans One Stop on La Salle Avenue to find veterans needing a place to live. Other programs exist to serve homeless veterans, but Solutions for Veterans will target those chronically without a place to live, who may have physical problems or addictive issues that limit their options, Taylor said.
A Solutions for Veterans fact sheet says crews will repurpose three buildings while remaining mindful of their historic significance. The buildings will house 26 studio units, while new construction will accommodate eight units and a community service center, the fact sheet states.
Another project in the planning stages across town is aiming to make housing available to veterans with rents capped based on their income.
The boards of the Waco Housing Authority and the Waco Public Facility Corp. in October approved deals allowing public subsidies to Gholson Street Housing, an 84-unit complex that will give preference to military veterans. It would be built at the southwest corner of Gholson Road and Herring Avenue, near the housing authority’s Estella Maxey Place apartments.
Developer Brennen Campbell owns 36 acres there and has agreed to sell 10 acres for the project, Waco Housing Authority President and CEO Milet Hopping said last month.
Hopping said residents could expect to pay $700 to $800 a month if…